TAMPA — The Bucs could be without CB Darrelle Revis for Sunday's game at Carolina.
Revis missed the second half of Sunday's 24-21 win at Detroit with an injured groin after being in a man-to-man matchup with Lions WR Calvin Johnson.
Coach Greg Schiano said Revis was scheduled for an MRI exam Monday but the team was uncertain of the injury's extent.
"It was severe enough, I know he wanted to play in that game desperately," Schiano said. "That was a great matchup and the first half felt like two championship fighters just feeling each other out. It was mostly jabs and it was going to be an interesting second half."
Rookie Johnthan Banks filled in during the second half, holding Johnson to 54 yards on three catches out of eight passes thrown his way.
"The flip side to that is I'm really proud of Johnthan Banks," Schiano said. "We weren't sure how we were going to do it. Were we going to totally go away from the plan? Were we going to adjust the plan? We adjusted it a little bit but Johnthan stepped into Darrelle's role against one of the best players to ever play that position and really did a really good job."
Revis watched from the sidelines.
"I'm hopeful it's short term, but I couldn't tell you," Schiano said of the injury. "My hopes really don't matter. Probably have to see what the doctor says. …Certainly, he didn't have to go to a hospital (Sunday) so I guess that's a positive."
Revis held WR Steve Smith to four catches for 42 yards in the 31-14 loss to the Panthers on Oct. 24 at Raymond James Stadium. Schiano said it's too early to know how not having Revis might alter the Bucs' game plan.
"It's not a whole new scheme, it's kind of like when you have Darrelle Revis and you just kind of tinker with it a little bit and you can kind of put your resources and dedicate them away from him," Schiano said. "He's going to take care of his guy and then we can use the rest to take care of the rest. So if we don't have him, that will present some things. (Today) is the big game plan day. … So hopefully we'll have a little bit better understanding of what the odds are for Darrelle to play this weekend and just go from there."
Crabtree out: The Bucs have lost TE Tom Crabtree for the season after he tore a biceps muscle in Sunday's win, Schiano said.
"He'll have surgery this week and have it repaired," said Schiano, who has had three tight ends and 13 players overall put on injured reserve this season.
Crabtree, who started Sunday, joins Luke Stocker and Nate Byham as tight ends on injured reserve. His injury leaves Tampa Bay with only rookie Tim Wright at the position, so the team will sign a tight end in the next two days. The Bucs have rookie Matt Veldman, a 6-foot-7 target from North Dakota State, on the practice squad. Or the team could go outside, having worked out former Rutgers tight end D.C. Jefferson this month.
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Explore all your optionsCrabtree, a free-agent signee from Green Bay in the offseason, had just four catches for 21 yards, limited by a high ankle sprain in the first month of the season. He caught a 2-yard touchdown against Seattle on a jump pass by rookie RB Mike James.
This and that: Thanks to an 85-yard touchdown pass to Tiquan Underwood, the Bucs are up to 29th in the NFL in yards per pass attempt with a 6.4-yard average … The Bucs' offensive line will distribute Thanksgiving meals to 700 families in need today at One Buc Place as part of the "Turkey Time with the O-Line" campaign. Families were selected by local nonprofit organizations.
Rick Stroud can be reached at stroud@tampabay.com. Greg Auman can be reached at auman@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3346.